News that the “Nintendo DSi launches in the United States on April 5, 2009, at an MSRP of $169.99.” came out on Feb 18th in a statement released by Nintendo of America Inc.  It will be up to consumers to vote with their wallets on whether the almost $170 price tag is worth the price of admission though.  The Nintendo DSi is Nintendo’s latest entry into the portable gaming marketplace and is essentially a revamp of the DS Lite that was released a few years ago.

There are a few new features that should be noted before anyone throws their hands up in shock.  There will be the added functionality of being able to play music, more readily access wireless networks, and the ability to use some built-in software that utilizes the DSi’s mic to record sounds files and allows you to manipulate it  in however you see fit.  The biggest addition to the Nintendo DSi are the two cameras it now has. “One camera is on the external body, and the second one points at the user when the device is flipped open.”  Nintendo says about the inclusion of the cameras that they are “a new tool to devise creative games and experiences.”  There will also be a program included with the DSi that will allow for you to edit pictures on the fly right on your DSi screens.

The features added to the DSi, especially the cameras, may seem like a gimmick to some, added to justify the high price tag, but the same rumblings were made when the original DS was released.  Nintendo has a way of making something that may seem like a gimmick one day be completely ground breaking in time, you’d only have to look as far as the Wii for a perfect example of this.  I personally can’t see myself throwing away my gorgeous black DS Lite in favor of a DSi but I would not blame any tech heads out there for grabbing one up when it hits stores in April.

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Not too long ago there was an article sent around work that talked about the increase in productivity if you use dual monitors. According to the article on Yahoo! Tech, the use of dual monitors will increase your productivity by 44%.  Digging further into the article it looks like the specific increase in productivity was found through a test conducted at the University of Utah.

In a study commissioned by the electronics company NEC, researchers at the University of Utah recently asked office workers to perform several common tasks using various monitor configurations. They found that people who used dual 20-inch monitors were 44 percent more productive at certain text-editing operations than people using a single 18-inch monitor. (Read the full New York Times Article)

More Monitors Mean More Work is Done

It wasn’t until I started working with Quicken Loans that I had personally experienced the use of dual monitors. When I first started I looked around with envy at my teammates who had the dual monitors. Low and behold all I had to do was ask, and my team leader hooked me up with dual monitors.  Boo-yah!

I will admit that the dual monitors are both a blessing and a pain. It is a blessing because when I have to do work that involves copy and pasting – it’s quicker. When I have to QA the website changes – I can open up both browsers and compare how the site looks in both browsers. If I’m digging into analytics – there is a spreadsheet open on one screen and an analytics program on another.  They help me get more done.

On the other hand though if I really need to dig in and focus – my email is always open asking me to read it.  Or a browser is open with all the crazy social nedualrking sites that I do my research on.  Oh and a big pet peeve, when I go from using the laptop to the dual monitors – the desktop is all messed up. Small aggravations compared to the benefits of dual monitors.

Should You Use Dual Monitors?

At the end of the day I give dual thumbs up to dual monitors. And I would high suggest you use dual monitors if you do any of the following tasks:

• ANY type of writing or copy editing.
• Build online advertising campaigns or paid search campaigns.
• Review websites for content, layout and/or usability.
• Programming of any sorts.
• Search engine optimization.

How about you? Do you use dual monitors? If so, what kind of tasks have you found that it helps you with?

At first tonight my post was going to be why you should always patent your ideas. But while looking online for the gadget I saw in my dreams years ago, I came across this neat site, www.coolest-gadgets.com. Most importantly I came across the category that showed “conceptual gadgets”.

So of course I spent some time cruising through the pages to see what people had come up with. The picture on the page shows one item that I am sure that plenty of people who have lived with roommates would love: a shared refridgerator. The blog post claims that, “The Flatshare is one out of nine finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2008 competition.” And I can completely understand why. It’s a brilliant idea. You wouldn’t have to worry about people eating your food or leaving nasty things to rot in the fridge. It would be your personal ‘chill’ space. (Wonder if there are locks on the doors?)

Here are some other neat gadgets I found that people are thinking of:

• Water bottles made from paper- Save the planet and use recycled paper for water bottles.
• Microsoft Mobile Office Bus- For the office team that is on the go.
• Digital Post-it Notes- reusable post-its. Word.
• Ring ID- A handshake and you’ll never forget a name again.

Some of these are so neat that I’m curious – what kind of crazy ideas do you have?